At night, in the quiet of the hospital, Ren slept. But something stirred within his body.
A voice—both sinister and strangely comforting—echoed in his mind.
"Nice to meet you, Ren Akatsuki. How are you?"
"Who… who are you? What are you doing inside my head?" Ren stammered, fear tightening his chest.
"I am you… the power you now hold. I am the reward you've longed for. I am the dark power you possess—the new power you bear, with a heavy responsibility."
"What are you talking about? Stop it! Don't mess with my mind!" Ren shouted, frustration and terror rising. He thought it was some demon trying to possess him. "Stop! Stop! Stop! Shut up!"
His eyes shot open, his heartbeat racing. He clutched his chest, questioning himself: What… what was that?
"I am not your enemy," the voice continued. "I am the one who will grant you the power to become the Ninth Sovereign."
"Who… who are you again?"
"I am the Ninth Black Heart… perhaps the last Black Heart. Ren, we are one now. I need you, and you need me. Together, we must protect this world. Hardships, betrayals—they will break you into pieces. You will meet fake people who pretend to stand with you. The ones you can truly trust are those who have always stood by your side. But even they… only a few will remain with you. Are you ready for this?"
"Yes. I will protect this world… and the people I care about," Ren replied, his voice steady.
"Very well. From now on, I will train you—teach you how to use your power to its fullest. If the Eight Sovereigns are correct about you, then… you can become the Ultimate Sovereign."
"But… I will be trained by the Four Generals."
"Yes, you are right. But I will teach you how to use this power to its fullest."
"One more thing."
"What is it?" the Heart spoke.
"What is the Ultimate Sovereign?"
"An Ultimate Sovereign is the supreme king of shadow that surpasses the limit of a normal sovereign."
"So… I can become the Ultimate Sovereign?"
"Yes. If you desire it. But first, you must surpass the limits your body believes it cannot."
"So… Ren, are you ready to unleash six percent of my power?"
"Yes… I'm ready," Ren answered.
"Then we must go elsewhere."
Ren left the hospital, venturing outside the city into a secluded forest.
"Wait… why didn't you speak earlier? You scared me," Ren asked.
"I apologize for frightening you," the Black Heart said.
"You'd better be… you could've killed me back then with a heart attack."
"Okay! I said sorry," the Heart responded with a hint of frustration.
"Very well. Raise your power to two percent," it instructed.
A thick, dark, black-blue light enveloped Ren's body.
"Now raise it to four percent, and maintain that form for a few minutes," the Heart commanded.
The power thickened, swirling around him like a protective shield.
"You're doing very well," the Black Heart praised.
"Now… imagine someone is dying, desperately needing your help. You must save them."
"I… I can't!" Ren cried out, frustration welling inside him.
"Very well. Let me handle this," the Heart said.
Inside Ren's mind, a horrifying scene unfolded: Yume's hand was ripped off, her body flung against a wall, her spine cracking. She was about to die.
Fear surged through Ren, pushing his power beyond six percent—up to eight—uncontrollably. In an instant, the surrounding forest was obliterated.
Ren snapped back to reality, wide-eyed. The destruction around him had occurred in mere moments.
"You care deeply for her," the Heart teased, making Ren blush.
"We must leave. If anyone sees this, we'll be in serious trouble," Ren said.
"The good news is, you can now wield eight percent of my power. But fear must be mastered—otherwise, innocent lives could be at risk."
"I understand… but that vision… it was terrifying. If anyone else had been there instead of Yume, I might've reacted the same."
"You acted the same in that cave. Yume is one of the few people who've stood by you since childhood. She cared for you, even blamed herself for your troubles."
Ren spoke politely.
"Let's end training for today and get out of here," the Black Heart said.
The next day, in the organization, a man rushed in.
"The forest… it's been reduced to ash!"
"What?!"
"Yes. A portion of the forest was destroyed, with blue flames consuming everything. Assign a few mid-level and three high-level A-rank bounds to investigate."
Upon arriving, everyone was stunned.
"Only a high-level A-rank—or an S-rank hunter—could generate this amount of power," one of them whispered.
"What the hell happened here?" another man said.
"We should leave now and report it to the higher-ups," someone else added.
At the hospital, Ren was discharged. Everyone rejoiced at his recovery.
Yume, Ren's master Kuro, and his captain were all happy to see him well again.
"We don't have time to celebrate. We must train and strengthen ourselves to defeat the Shadow Demons and protect the world," Ren said seriously.
"Wait, Ren Akatsuki. You must come with us first," Ichiro said, his expression grave, as a team from the organization stood beside him.